


A Most Unusual Feline

by kesomon



Category: Captain America (Movies), Cat from Outer Space (1978)
Genre: Aliens, Cats, Gen, Humor, Mind Control, Suspense, Telekinesis, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 23:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7911832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kesomon/pseuds/kesomon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Asset is deployed on an assignment that doesn't quite go as expected.</p><p>Bucky Barnes wakes up very confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Most Unusual Feline

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [If They Haven't Learned Your Name](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329503) by [silentwalrus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentwalrus/pseuds/silentwalrus). 



> The Cat From Outer Space is a fun Disney film that really deserves a modern reboot or sequel. It isn't necessary to understand this fic; all you have to know is, Zunar/Jake is an alien shaped like a cat, with a collar that allows him to use telepathy and telekinesis to speak, lift, and even freeze objects in time, and who chose to stay on Earth after the events of the film.

The year was 1978 and the Asset was awake. The Cold War was still going strong, the nations of the world scrabbling between themselves in a dying race for power and superiority over the rest. It was a perfect nest for HYDRA to flourish, and they were eagerly sinking their claws into whatever wandered past that was of interest.

But for HYDRA to succeed, some sacrifices had to be made, and so it was that the Asset was dispatched to Berkeley, California, and the Energy Research Laboratories, who had been making great strides in the field of alternative power sources. Their man, Doctor Frank Wilson, was at the forefront, and was proving to be very smart. Too smart, and too noble for his own good.

The Asset’s orders were to terminate.

There was no one around when the dark-clothed man slipped a knife between the panes of a window and jimmied the lock; no alarm sounded as boots touched down softly to wood floors. The dark apartment lay quiet as he moved like a ghost through the target’s living room. Only one occupant was there to observe, with narrow, hazel eyes.

The Asset stretched out his hand, metal fingertips resting on the doorknob to the target’s innermost sanctuary, the bedroom.

 

~ _Stop._ ~

 

There was a strum of sound, a flush of sensation over his body, and suddenly, the Asset _could not move_. He felt muscles lock up, machinery grind to a halt, his body frozen in motion as surely as if cryo-frozen. In his periphery, he sensed something moving, as silent as a ghost, across the empty room, along the back of the couch. Eyes darted left, the only thing free to move in his petrified state, to catch the dark shape of something leap up upon the nearby counter-top.

~ _No_ ,~ hummed the presence, staring deep into his soul with an unblinking gaze, eyes shining in the moonlight. ~ _No, this won’t do at all._ ~

A ring around the creature’s neck began to glow, bright and blinding.

Darkness reached forth its hand into the Asset’s mind, and the floor rose up to meet him as he slipped into its grasp.

  
  


Bucky Barnes came to awareness slowly, with a headache that rivalled the last time he’d taken a dare from Dum-Dum Dugan on how much local rotgut he could chug without hurling. That began to fade quickly, and as it did he became aware of several things.

 

First, that the darkness of the night had become the light of morning, drawn sheer-curtains over the windows casting dappled reflection patterns on the ceiling.

Second, that the floor he remembered collapsing to as the Asset had been replaced by something very comfortable, and his dark-clad limbs now lay buried under the bright, muddled floral pattern of a rumpled couch throw that smelled mustily of cheap cigars and coffee.

And thirdly, that his mind was, most miraculously, clearer than it had been since before he’d shipped out for the War in 1939.

 

Distantly, he felt as though he should be far more hysterical about these matters. But despite the logic of panic, he could not bring himself to move - either mentally, or physically.

It was then that Bucky Barnes began to hyperventilate, because he _could not_ _move_.

Tendons strained against invisible bonds and a high-pitched gasp tore itself from his throat, buoyed by rising panic, but whatever held him down also held him firm, and not even the metal arm seemed able to budge whatever it was.

And then the presence reached out and touched his mind, with a gentle ~ _Calm down_ ,~ and to his astonishment, he did.

~ _That’s better,_ ~ said the presence, brightly and without fear. ~ _We can’t really have a conversation if one of us is freaking out._ ~ And Bucky became aware of a moving weight on his chest, warmth and a steady thrum situated directly over his heart. With effort, he focused his gaze downward.

Intelligent, hazel eyes twinkled merrily back at his confused expression, belonging to an Abyssinian that had made itself quite at home on his chest, paws tucked beneath its chest and tail curled tight to its haunches.

~ _Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnes,~_ the presence _\- the cat! -_ spoke in Barnes’ mind. _~My name is Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 - please, call me Jake. I hope I’ve made you comfortable. I had to do quite a bit of work in order to reach you, and I’m afraid headaches are an unavoidable side-effect._ ~ The feline tilted his head, ears perked. ~ _Now, if you don’t mind - my good friend Frank would like very much to know why you were here to kill him last night._ ~

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was sparked by If They Haven't Learned Your Name, by author silentwalrus, who connected Bucky with Aliens and somehow fused a circuit in my brain that jumped to 'This Alien In Particular.'
> 
> And because I think it should be a Life Goal to let Bucky Barnes lay on comfortable couches covered in warm, purring kitties that can telepathically heal his poor abused brain.


End file.
